Wessex One Health BBSRC scholarship: Investigating the antigenicity and cross-reactivity of lyssaviruses and coronaviruses to inform intervention strategies : University of Sussex
Source: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-funding/phd-funding/view/1913-Wessex-One-Health-BBSRC-scholarship:-Investigating-the-antigenicity-and-cross-reactivity-of-lyssaviruses-and-coronaviruses-to-inform-intervention-strategies Parent: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-funding/phd-funding/browse
Wessex One Health BBSRC scholarship: Investigating the antigenicity and cross-reactivity of lyssaviruses and coronaviruses to inform intervention strategies (2026)
This project is offered as part of our doctoral programme funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) which will train postgraduate researchers in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity.
What you get
PhD studentships cover four years of UK or International PhD fees and a tax free maintenance allowance (currently £20,780 in 2024-5) plus some research and travel costs.
Type of award
PhD scholarship
PhD project
Investigating the antigenicity and cross-reactivity of lyssaviruses and coronaviruses to inform intervention strategies
Lead partner: University of Sussex \ Supervisor: Edward Wright: ew323@susex.ac.uk
Joint partner: APHA \ Supervisor: Guanghui Wu: Guanghui.Wu@apha.gov.uk
Emerging and zoonotic viruses pose an increasingly serious threat to both human and animal health due to the majority being highly pathogenic. The elevated risk is in part caused by the lack of understanding regarding the host-pathogen interactions and easily accessible, effective countermeasures to minimise the burden of these viruses. Vaccines are one of the most effective countermeasures, which provide protection against severe disease. However, vaccines are only as good as their antigen(s), which are informed through studies of virus antigenicity or cross-reactivity.
While vaccines exist for rabies virus (RABV), these are based on classical RABV isolates so confer protection against RABV and a few lyssavirus species that are highly related antigenically. However, rabies disease is thought to be caused by all the divergent species within the lyssavirus genus. Therefore, studies of the antigenicity of lyssavirus envelope proteins will be undertaken to aid the development of more widely reactive and potent lyssavirus vaccines.
Similarly, we have identified several alpha- and beta-coronaviruses within animal reservoirs that have the potential to spillover into human populations. However, the cross-reactivity between these isolates and SARS-CoV-2 is unknown. Therefore, the risk they pose to animals and humans is uncertain, so antigenic characterisation of these viruses is needed to address this.
This project will involve serological studies of lyssavirus and coronavirus envelope proteins to inform vaccine antigen development and other interventions. It will build on existing collaborations between the Universities or Sussex and the Animal and Plant Health Agency enabling studies of individual antigenic sites in lyssavirus and coronavirus VEPs and in silico generated VEPs. The student will be trained in molecular biology, tissue culture, virus infection and neutralisation, and working in high containment laboratories.
Eligibility
Who we are looking for
You will have the ambition, motivation and scientific curiosity to research new approaches to combatting infectious diseases in the themes of:
- Detection, prevention and intervention
- Microbial evolution and drug resistance
- Understanding disease spread
- Infection and cellular biology.
You will have or expect to have an MSc, and/or a first or upper second honours degree in a relevant subject. We welcome applications from graduates of all universities, and from candidates already in work, or returning after a career break.
Note: Lab experience is desirable but not essential as all successful applicants will be trained in basic lab skills where applicable.
The Scholarships are open to both UK and International applicants. However international places are limited as 70% of each cohort must be Home Students. In addition, some of the partner laboratories have nationality or residency requirements due to security clearance checks on their researchers. Please contact the supervisors for details of any further requirements for this project.
Number of scholarships available
One for this project but 17 PhD studentships are available for October 2026 across the programme.
Deadline
23 January 2026 23:59
How to apply
Please apply by submitting an application form for a Wessex One Health scholarship and completing our EDI survey
You will find this project listed in Section 14 of the application form.
If you are invited for interview, you should contact the supervisors ahead of the interview, but you are welcome to contact them before applying to find out more about the project.
Contact us
For Sussex-specific enquiries contact pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk
For information on this project, contact the Sussex supervisor: Dr Ed Wright ew323@susex.ac.uk
For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk.
You might also be interested in
You can find out more about the Wessex One Health Programme here,
Timetable
The timetable is as follows:
Submission deadline: Midnight Friday 23 January 2026
Shortlisting: by 13 February 2026
Online interviews: Online, week beginning 3 March 2026
Availability
At level(s):\ PG (research)
Application deadline:\ 23 January 2026 23:59 (GMT) \ the deadline has now expired
Countries
The award is available to people from these specific countries:
Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Channel Islands not otherwise specified Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus (European Union) Cyprus (Non-European Union) Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guam (USA) Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) [Hong Kong] Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Northern Ireland Northern Mariana Islands Norway Not Known Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Island Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls. Saint Barthelemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Anguilla Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French Part) Saint Tome (Sao Tome) and Principe Saint Vincent and Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Scotland Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch Part) Slovak Republic Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Stateless Sudan Suriname Swaziland (Eswatini) Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Kingdom, not otherwise specified United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (British) Wales Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe